The need to adorn one's self and to protect ourselves from the influences of evil forces and misfortune is as ancient as the history of mankind. Hence people even decorated everyday objects with symbols and protective signs. August Reinthaler's detailed descriptions and quality drawings of the tools in his extensive collection make this a valuable and informative text book.

An illustrated dictionary for collectors, students, curators, dealers and the just plain curious. The ultimate 'Whatsit?' book. Iron artifacts, which chronicled day-to-day living in early New England, have been brought together for the first time in this remarkable book. Delightfully illustrated and described, including their history, these antique iron pieces are documented and explained is how and why each piece was used.

The ancient Romans and prehistoric European tribes had shirts of mail as did the medieval knights, familiar to us from the stories of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe. Mail, at least the outward form, should be made to imitate the styles of old.

1. The first type is the best made from links that were shut with a forge weld. 2. The second type of mail would have been made of links closed with a cold shut. Each link would be flattened where the joint was made a hole drilled in both ends to receive a very small shutting rivet. This was considered to be good mail but not the very best. 3. The third type of mail and lowest in quality, was made of links not shut at all. The links were bent shut without securing the two ends in any way.

The shirt presented here was made of links that were not shut. The ends were butted together after each link was individually fitted into the pattern of the metal fabric.

Clad in armour and mounted on horseback, knights were noble warriors who lived hundreds of years ago in a world where mighty castles dominated the landscape and rival forces clashed in blood-soaked battles. Enter a world filled with heroism, romance and warfare and find out about the rise and fall of the most feared warriors in medieval Europe. A young readers guide to the Medieval World.

This scholarly significant, popularly written, and beautifully illustrated work explores the multiple rolls of arms and armor in the Renaissance and Baroque societies. During the period between 1450-1650, gunpowder weapons and new military technologies gradually extinguished the need for knights in shining armor on the battlefield. In this period, unsurpassed production of elaborate, richly decorated, and superbly crafted suits of armor became a symbol of status and was worn increasingly for ceremonial purposes and adopted into everyday life and dress.

This chest, found in1936 in Mästermyr on the island of Gotland, Sweden, contains more that 200 tools used by Viking blacksmiths, woodworkers and metal smiths. This archaeological find is described in detail with clear photographs and drawings.

METALSShaping our world shows us the value of metal, from building the space shuttle to preserving food in tin cans. People depend on metals every day of their lives. Almost everything we make or use today contains some amount of metal. Humans have been using metals for more than 5,000 years. Tools and weapons were the first objects made from metals. A clear, valuable book for young readers.